 "Photo: Audrey Chartrand")
Hundreds of activists and recovering drug addicts and alcoholics marched from City Hall to the State House on Tuesday to promote addiction recovery.
Approximately 250 people attended the 15th annual walk to commemorate National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which began with a rally at City Hall and ended with a meeting with legislators at the State House.
The goal of the Recovery Walk, according to Amos Marshall, president of Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, was to "erase some of this stigma associated behind addiction."
Marshall said drug and alcohol addiction transcends socioeconomic status.
"Most of the people I know going through recovery wear suits and ties," he said.
The rally at City Hall included speakers from MOAR, the Boston Public Health Commission, recovering addicts and the faith-based addiction recovery group Teen Challenge Boston.
Barbara Garnis of the Institute for Health and Recovery in Cambridge said the Recovery Walk helps raise awareness about people with addiction problems by showcasing "the voices and faces of recovery." Claudia Jones, a walk participant from Plymouth and a License Addictions Counselor for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, works with patients who suffer from both serious mental illnesses and addiction problems.
"As [patients] go through recovery, you can almost see the change in mental status," Jones said.
Garnis, Jones and other speakers at the Recovery Walk said it was vital to accept recovering addicts into mainstream society and increasing resources available to them.
According to John Auerbach of the Boston Public Health Commission, the last year has seen a 100 percent increase in death by drug overdose and higher numbers of heroin and OxyContin abuse, particularly among young teenagers.
"If we let our voices be heard," Auerbach said, "we can be sure to get the resources we need."
Gail Rohmer, a license addictions counselor at High Point Treatment Center on Cape Cod, said she recognized the danger of addiction in younger patients. Although her patients attend the clinic voluntarily, Rohmer said they are getting younger and younger.
Some speakers at the Recovery Walk said the high attendance was proof of increased support for MOAR.
A recovering addict from the University of Massachusetts who only gave his name as Alex told the crowd his story.
"There are a lot of addicts who are suffering just like myself," he said. "Just to see a turnout such as today, I feel like there is still hope." Rev. Josh Fulton, director of Teen Challenge Boston, echoed Alex's thoughts.
"Every addict deserves a chance because in every addict, there is a success story," Fulton said.
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Sen. Therese Murray (D-Kingston) joined MOAR in supporting the plight of the recovering addicts. Mayor Thomas Menino, although scheduled to speak at the town meeting, was in Washington D.C. and could not attend.
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